You've proven my point here - none of that makes it a better games machine. For example, the cell chip is ideal for multimedia applications (streaming multiple video channels etc) but very awkward to develop games on. Also why would you want to install Linux on a games machine?

'XBox360 : old knocked off pc kit you can buy cheap at a car boot sale.'

The 360 architecture uses custom chips designed purely for gaming (and able to hold it's own on the multimedia front). No PC uses a similar architecture. PC's are also severely bogged down by an operating system based on a 20 year old design.

'as for software, all major releases are for both consoles and frankly the exclusive for the xbox are really poor.'

I'm not going to give you a list of amazing exclusive 360 games (which I could as there are plenty), I'm just going to mention one - Bioshock.

'I'm just waiting for the day when you can't fit the next big game on a DVD because their isn't enough space, then xbox will be screwed.'

This has already happened and do you know what ingenious method they used to get around the problem? They shipped the game on multiple DVD's - simple.

'or me I'll use my PS3 to play decent games and watch Blu-ray, and for any other game that I can't get for the PS3, I'll wait for the PC release (although frankly so far I haven't found one)'

That's great, I wish you well. So why do you feel the need to insult people who defend their preferred form of entertainment?

Do you perhaps have that sinking feeling you get when you realise you've backed the wrong horse?

@ Mark

'Paris, because even she is not stupid enough to think that the superior hardware in the PS3 won't result in better games.'

You see, this is where the Sony hype has worked. The PS3 has proven time and time again that it's strength lies not in games but in it's multi media capabilities. It was designed as a Blu Ray player first and a games machine second, and most of the multi platform games are testament to this fact (e.g. see this article for examples http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=89969).

I admire your optimism but I think in the long run it will be shown that the biggest problem with the PS3 hardware is that even though it was released over a year after the 360 from a gaming point of view the hardware is inferior. And I won't even go into the cop out that is the PS3 controller - it was in desperate need of a redesign but Sony bottled it at the last moment.

The real gamers machine at the moment and for the foreseeable future is the 360. Any gamer who doesn't own one (especially at it's new low price) is a fool to themselves. You can order the premium console from Play.com for £200 with GTA IV - now that is a bargain.

@Mt Anon, again

''reasonable' doesn't cut it, buzzwords won't cut it, they need something, some hook, some magic, some killer thing that lifts them back up to be a contender.'

I own a Wii - it's nice - but apart from the controller it is technically inferior to the 360 and the PS3 in every way. It also has some nice games but they are unfortunately few and far between with 6 months or more between the release of each triple A game. The games are also released up to a year earlier in Japan and the USA, Europe gets a very raw deal on this front.

Where Ninty have knocked the ball out of the stadium is on the marketing front. They show normal people playing fun games in an innovative way that non gamers can relate to. Calling the controller a 'remote' was also very clever as everyone knows how to use a remote control. It's been a great success and I wish them well. It doesn't make their machine any more than a bodged Gamecube though, not capable of the genre stretching games that the PS3 and 360 are starting to release.

GTA IV will be a good example of this. Wii owners may be a little miffed that it isn't released on their machine. If you want amazing games like this then you need a 360 or a PS3, and in my humble opinion the 360 trumps the PS3 on many fronts.

@ Mr anon

'They just don't have a good argument as to why XBox will make a comeback in sales. It's not the cheapest, not the best, not selling the most, not got any novelty value, not sexier, not got a BluRay player built in, not the most reliable... there are lots of things it's not. On the other hand when I'm a customer wanting to buy a console, I should choose the Xbox because.... erm, well no reason.'

Because it has the best collection of exclusive games of any of the platforms.

Because it has the best online gaming experience.

Because the achievements and gamerscore system is genius.

Because it has the best controller (featuring rumble from day one).

Because multi platform titles are often technically superior and never inferior.

Because Xbox Live is regularly updated with quality content - and this is synchronised worldwide - not just in the USA.

Because Xbox Live is fully integrated with the internet.

Because of Xbox Live Arcade which features some great old and new games.

Because it is backwards compatible with most of the best Xbox games (several of which you can buy and download straight away).

Because it offers the cheapest way to watch HD movies.

Because of the video market place which is a reasonable first stab at online film rental.

Because you can stream video, music and pictures from your PC to your TV via it.

I meant 1 million not 7

Ooops. I admit I cocked up on the figures. The 360 actually has a 1 million unit lead over the PS3 in Europe and about 7 million worldwide. However at the current sales rate it'll still take the PS3 many, many years before it overtakes the 360 for total sales. Well before which time the Xbox 720 will be released and it'll start all over again.

So unless 360 sales really start to nosedive or PS3 sales suddenly take off at a rapid rate, which I can't see happening, then the 360 appears to have won this generation in Europe and the USA. Well done them.

To be honest though Sony have handed the victory to them on a plate. They've dropped the ball big time - we'll have to see if they can make a better fist of the PS4.

And yes I am discounting the Wii as a next gen console, just as I'm discounting the DS and PSP. Nintendo have created their own niche and are doing very well out of it but it's target market are very different to that of the 360 and PS3.

Nothing much to worry about

So they're just storing info about you in a cookie on your PC and nowhere else - sounds much less worrying than was first thought then. Because Phorm aren't storing any data then data protection is a non issue.

Blocking cookies from oix.com would effectively turn off this functionality - no need for an opt out.

@ Matthew

No, as has been said countless times (and in this article) the Phorm ads will only appear on websites which have signed up to the Phorm service.

Good points Pierre and nickj

@ Pierre

* Snail mail IS a private service. You can not compare this to anything on the internet.

* My email account uses a secure connection (IMAP SSL) - something you should consider for yourself. Also if I access my email account via the web it uses HTTPS. If you will go and use a free mail account then you get what you pay for.

* My bank uses HTTPS - does yours not? Also any fraud liability lies with them - not myself.

@ nickj

How exactly are Phorn abusing free speech? You're free to talk about any subject you want to on the internet - Phorn will just serve you adverts relevant to your discussions ;-)

@ everyone replying to me

Perhaps the reason that I'm not bothered by any of this is down to the fact that I don't regard web browsing as in anyway a completely private activity. I browse at work where my company can easily monitor the websites I visit. I browse at home where Virgin Media log every page I visit and will turn this info over to the police at the drop of a hat.

I'm certainly not going to lose sleep over a company sifting through my web activities anonymously in order to provide me with more targeted adverts, which I think on the whole is good idea and the future of the web as it stands today may even depend on such mechanisms.

Sites such as The Register rely solely on advertising in order to keep running free of charge - they do not run on fresh air. So would you rather have targeted advertising or have to start paying a subscription? You may believe that paying a subscription to The Register is worthwhile, but how much is a fair amount? £10 a year? £25 pounds a year? And how many websites do you regularly visit? That could add up to a lot of £25 subscriptions. If every site started charging a subscription then the web would be a very different place. Being able to dip in and out of websites would become a thing of the past.

I know from personal experience that ad banners produce very little revenue for websites. I also keep reading how apps such as the BBC iPlayer are costing ISPs far more in bandwidth costs than they are charging customers. All of this is going to come to a head at some point and initiatives along the lines of this Phorn one are, I'm afraid, inevitable. In my opinion it's naive to think otherwise.

And no, I am in no way affiliated with Phorn, who from reading the other Reg articles on the subject do sound a little dodgy. But the major companies involved in this will not be doing this lightly as they really do not want to start losing customers (especially Virgin Media!). If people want the internet to remain 'free' then some form of compromise between customers and the ISPs is required and this sort of initiative is really only the start of it.

@ Paul Barnfather

The 'generic ads' are placed there by the website publisher. An example is Google ads which reacts to what's on the page. The Phorm ads instead react to who the user is (without using personal details - just your IP).

There is no injecting going on here - the ISPs really would never get away with it even if they thought it was a good idea.

I love the internet!

People get a snippet of info and then make the rest up!

No one is going to alter the contents of a web page to insert adverts - the web site publisher has to be in on this too (it explains all of this on the Phorms website). It simply changes the adverts which are served from the ad agency which the particular website is using. It won't affect all websites - it depends who they are using to serve their banner adverts etc.

Websites already do all of this via cookies anyway - this just sounds like a more efficient means. And the data is anonymous as Phorms will never know your personal details.

How it works

There's no 'injecting' going on here. Adverts on most websites are currently served from one of a handful of advertising networks (Tradedoubler, CJ etc). What Phorm are doing is allowing these ad networks to direct adverts at a particular user using knowledge of previous websites they have visited and adverts they have clicked on etc.

So the content of the website isn't being altered and the website owner has placed and configured the adverts themselves. As Phorm themselves say:

'The user doesn't see more advertising, just more relevant advertising.'

It really is no big deal. And for the people saying that they don't want their web surfing to be monitored and logged, I'm afraid this has always been the case and always will be. You'd be better of visiting a library if you're not happy with this concept.

Re: It's enough for me

'Through my PS3 I play - in full 1080p by the way, which the 360 is STILL incapable of - Motorstorm, mainly, with a bit of StardustHD for instant gaming gratification.'

The 360 has been capable of 1080p since around the time the PS3 was launched. It was done in a firmware update. By the way, the PS3 only does 1080p on certain games and even then it struggles. 720p is the sweet spot for this gen of games consoles which is a good job really as that's all most peoples flat screens are capable of displaying!

'Keep your 360s chaps - if I want to play PC games, I'll use my PC for that.'

The 360 is host to quite a few PC games because:

a. It's relatively easy to port games.

b. There's some great PC games which deserve more of a casual audience.

But most of the outstanding games aren't on the PC (Halo 3 being the most obvious example) or are available on the 360 way before they are ported to the PC (like Gears of War).

The 360 is a great console which no amount of Sony fanboy ranting is going to change. The PS3 has a long way to go before it gets into it's stride...

Re: Does it come with pre-paid jiffy bags?

Tom, I take it you're referring to sending an Xbox off for repair? There is a free collection service for broken Xbox's so no need for the jiffy bags (would there be one big enough for an Xbox 360 anyway?).

These latest Xbox's (i.e. the ones currently in the shops) generally have the new heat sink arrangement which should make it unlikely that they will break down anyway.

Leslie, well it's black (which is the new silver) with a HDMI port and a 120Gb hard drive (bigger than the premium's 20Gb). It also comes with a HDMI cable - not a high cost item but Sony couldn't manage this with the PS3.

Re: Now they need to add the motion sensor controllers

So, to have fun on a game console you must have 'motion sensor controllers'?

I'm having plenty of fun on my Xbox 360 without a gimicky controller thank you very much!

This is just the right time for a price cut. The Xbox 360 has some cracking games coming out on it over the next few months and to further distance itself from it's real competition (the PS3) at this stage is exactly what MS needed to do. Plus it might encourage Sony to price drop the PS3 to a reasonable price so everyone wins!

Re: Windows XP(?) Console Slowly Dies

Simon,

'Gameplay on the Xbox 360 is very dire, lots of PC/PS3 Ports.'

Nothing wrong with porting PC games. Also it's actually the other way around, the PS3 features lots of Xbox 360 ports. Companies invest a lot of money into games so they support the most number of platforms that they can - it's basic business sense.

'But why isnt Xbox Live Free, '

Because it's superior in every way to any similar offering elsewhere. Also remember you only have to pay for it if you want to PLAY online - everything else (downloading demos, messaging/talking to friends, achievements, global leaderboards etc.) is free.

'Halo is excellent, but it isnt WII Sports, It isnt Shadow of Colussus or Daxter on the PSP. '

Apples and oranges...

'Microsoft Hardware is poor, I bought mine and got the three reds lights or it locked. Xbox consoles are the only consoles I know that lock when you are playing.'

MS have had problems with the hardware - but they've now sorted most of this out and will repair you console free of charge if you have the 'three red lights' issue. This is more than any company has done in the past (see Sony and the PS2 disc reading problem)

'I played Halo 1 and thought this is excellent this is reason to get this console, I got a WII , WOW , Unbelieveable, easy but next gen without the next gen fuss. played motorstorm on PS3 and Heavenly Sword (yes its not released), that is what console gaming is about, gameplay and if you are luckly great graphics added to it. '

So you played a last gen game on a current gen console and are now comparing this experience with the Wii and PS3's finest? Not a fair comparison would you say?

'Microsoft is a one game show boat, look at Crackdown sales only driven by the halo 3 beta, a Beta for a Console Game, nuts and lazy programming. Microsoft hurry up and leave, you are boring the industry...'

Crackdown is an excellent game in it's own right - I take it you've played it? Also I assume by 'one game show boat' you are referring to Halo 3. While this is a massive release on the Xbox platform it is a long way from being the only thing on offer. I'm not going to write a list but if you look at the games already available on the 360 and look into the not too distant future you'll see some amazing games which don't all have the name Halo (Bioshock is one example of a game which is currently shaping up to be a classic).

@ Richard Kilpatrick

Richard,

Sounds like you're missing out on some great games if you only own 3 Xbox 360 games! The Wii's software lineup has nowhere near the depth of the 360's, and as I've said, any 'must have' titles that do come out (Paper Mario for example) take an age to be released in Europe. Microsoft are probably the company that have the most respect for Europe when it comes to gaming with near instantaneous releases of both hardware and software in the USA and Europe.

As for retro gaming. How about Sensible Soccer on Xbox Live Arcade as an example of a must have retro game soon to be released? There's loads of great retro and new games on XBLA, all with a free downloadable demo so you can try before you buy - something you can't do with the Wii's retro collection which includes some howlers.

Nintendo really need to step up it's release schedule if it hopes to compete with the 360 and the PS3 in the long run. One off hardware sales to new gamers while the Wii concept is fresh is not a long term strategy. Look at the Gamecube for an example of a decent console which failed due to a dearth of decent games - especially when it came to third party publishers.

Software?

'At the moment Sony and to a lesser extent Microsoft have games coming out soon that will be console sellers'

I think you mean this the other way around i.e. Microsoft have most of the system sellers on the horizon, most of the Sony system sellers are due next year.

As for the Wii. Hardware sales are great but what about the software sales? Do people buy the Wii and then just play Wii Sports? I suspect this is what a lot of people do, whereas the 360 and PS3 I'm sure have a higher attach rate.

Also Nintendo are not known for their love of Europe. Games released in Japan and the USA literally take over 6 months to reach Europe. This will not help them sell consoles in the long term.